Joe Hockey to Holden: put up or pack up

Holden remains unconvinced that the government intends to provide any more assistance to the industry after 2016 - a decision that would virtually guarantee its closure, according to sources close to the embattled car maker.

Joe Hockey to Holden: put up or pack up

Holden remains unconvinced that the government intends to provide any more assistance to the industry after 2016 - a decision that would virtually guarantee its closure, according to sources close to the embattled car maker.

Joe Hockey to Holden: put up or pack up

07 Oct 2016Mark Kenny, Clay Lucas

Holden remains unconvinced that the government intends to provide any more assistance to the industry after 2016 - a decision that would virtually guarantee its closure, according to sources close to the embattled car maker.

The new doubts are fuelling a worsening stand-off, with Holden refusing to reveal whether it plans to stay and the government taking the extraordinary step of demanding ''immediate clarification'' from the company even before its Productivity Commission inquiry into industry assistance releases an interim report next week.

Holden's managing director, Mike Devereux, appeared at that inquiry on Tuesday and among other things, flatly denied that any decision to withdraw had already been made in Detroit.

His defiance came as Holden continued to make clear it wanted to see what assistance the government was prepared to offer after 2016 before it decided its future.

Hockey

With tempers fraying in Parliament, the opposition depicted Coalition members as callous ideologues for putting 50,000 jobs at risk.

Acting Prime Minister Warren Truss said he had written to Holden to demand clarification after intense speculation ''impacting on Holden's workers, their families and the supply chain''.

Acting Labor leader Tanya Plibersek said that from 2001 to 2012, Holden had generated $32.7 billion of economic activity and paid $21 billion to other companies while receiving $1.8 billion in subsidies.